I'm a odd bloke when it comes to spelling. There are certain words that I cannot spell, and sometimes
I even have difficulty looking them up in a dictionary because I can't recall how they start!. This is not
a consequence of the aging process, as I've always been that way. Yet, oddly enough, if I happen to be reading something, I can immediately spot a spelling error, and that rings a bell in my head.
This strange capability is now somewhat of problem for me because American variances in spelling are
now infiltrating Britain via the Internet. I recently downloaded from Amazon the complete works of the
English writer Thomas Hardy for my Kindle, but, my enjoyment is spoiled because American spelling has
been used . Every time I read a word containing a 'Z' where we would use an 'S' it stops me in my tracks
and spoils my enjoyment. I think it is a damn cheek.
I guess I am complaining in vain, because I now see that new editions of English dictionaries now state
that the words in question can be spelt with an S or a Z. It's another example of the strange fact that
if enough people do something wrong, it becomes right.
Forgive my rant, but this sort of thing does annoy me.
What do you think?